If It's a War They Want
by X-I-L2048
Summary: It's the second year of the Unification War. The Independents decide that it's time to show the Alliance they're truly serious about not joining him, and do so by instigating a devastating terrorist attack on the very core of the Alliance itself…
1. Chapter 1

"I see it, I see it!" Hanabi Haung, otherwise known as the moon Xiaojie, squealed, bouncing up and down on her toes excitedly and pointing to a large spacecraft touching down on the dock just in front of the small group of three. "You see it, _Dìdi_, you see it?"

"I see her, _Jiě jie_," came the calm, somewhat distracted reply. Hanabi's twin brother, Arien, sat on a railing, hurriedly sketching a seagull with a piece of bread in its mouth as it hopped across the sidewalk. Akiko rolled her eyes, half fondly, half exasperatedly.

"Ari, we have guests," she reminded him, holding a hand in front of her eyes to shield them both from the sun's glare and the dust kicked up by the spacecraft's engines. "Be polite. You can draw later."

"But 'Kiko, I-"

"_Later_, Jainyu." Akiko's tone brooked no argument. Jainyu sighed, but complied, casting one last longing glance at the seagull before tucking his sketchbook and stick of charcoal back in his satchel. Catching sight of a smear of charcoal on the teenage moon's cheek, Akiko sighed and pulled a handkerchief out of her purse.

"Honestly," she murmured, reaching over and rubbing his cheek with the soft white cloth, "you and Winston would both probably never bathe again if we girls weren't around to look after you. Will you ever learn?" Jainyu patiently put up with her fussing with the air of one who had been through this a thousand times.

"Winnie!" Hanabi suddenly exclaimed, having caught sight of the disheveled mop of blonde curls above the heads of most of the surrounding crowd. She dashed off through the throng of disembarking passengers, her small, lithe, dancer's body darting with effortless grace through the press of people. Akiko placed the handkerchief back in her purse with a fond smile. Jainyu stood up and offered her his arm with a wordless smile, and she took it, returning the grin.

They followed Hanabi's brightly clothed form through the crowd, just in time to see her leap up and hug the personification of Londinium around the neck.

"Winnie, you're here!" she squealed, laughing delightedly. He seemed a bit thrown off balance by the large weight that had just leapt up and attached itself to his neck, but he quickly recovered and laughed as well, wrapping the tiny moon in his arms and spinning her around. She giggled harder and kicked her heels up, enjoying every second of it.

"I am indeed," he announced gaily, setting Hanabi gently down. "And look who I brought with me." He gestured to the small teen behind him, holding Lizzie in the crook of one arm.

"Marty!" Hanabi seemed delighted to see her fellow moon among them. She made as if to give her a hug, but Colchester darted behind Winston before she could.

"I'd rather not, thanks," she said shortly, as Lizzie scampered up to her normal perch on Winston's shoulder.

"Aww, now be nice, Martha," Winston chuckled, ruffling her short blonde hair affectionately. "Sparkleworks here is just happy to see you."

"Yes, yes!" Hanabi latched onto Martha's arm and tugged on it insistently. "We have so much to show you! Don't we, _Dìdi_?" she said to her brother as he and Akiko caught up with them. His only response was to smile and nod, both in affirmation and in greeting to the newcomers.

"Ari! How have you been, kid?" Winston ruffled his hair as well. Jainyu grinned wider and playfully batted the much taller man's hand away.

"Like a lotus drifting on the current with the sun on its face," the moon replied, his smile and eyes taking on a distant, almost dreamy quality for a moment before he returned to reality.

"Well, that's just shiny," Martha muttered, giving Hanabi an annoyed glare. Suddenly, she pointed at a vague spot somewhere in the distance of the bustling city of Tojing. "Hey look, is that stall selling peacocks?"

"Peacocks?" Hanabi whipped her head around wildly in all directions, trying to see. "Where? Where?" While the small moon was momentarily distracted, Martha shot an imploring look at the others.

"_Save me,_" she mouthed through clenched teeth. Taking pity on her, Jainyu stepped up and handed Martha a brochure he had retrieved from his satchel, while simultaneously patting his sister on the arm.

"_Jiě jie_, we should get going," he reminded her gently.

"_Yúch__ǔ__n_Marty, the stall was selling parrots, not peacocks!" Hanabi giggled as she turned her attention back to the other two moons. She caught sight of the brochure Martha was holding and exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, we thought you'd like that! They're having a whole sector of the new shopping district dedicated to architecture and construction and stuff. We could stop by there while we're looking around, if you want." Martha's eyes narrowed in thought as she processed this.

"A whole sector?" she asked slowly. The twins nodded in unison.

"We'll even go there first, if you want," Hanabi offered magnanimously, tugging on the younger girl's arm insistently. Colchester sighed and allowed herself to be dragged along with an air of resigned martyrdom on her face. She couldn't quite mask her excitement at the prospect of getting to see the new shopping district that was just opening that day, though. It was supposed to be one of the finest in the 'verse, and everyone in the Core, it seemed, was taking time off to go and see the sights.

"Be back at the hotel by seven, alright?" Akiko called after them, trying hard to hide her smile. "You know where we'll be," she told Jainyu, giving him a conspiratorial wink. "Stay out of trouble, and call us if you need anything." Jainyu nodded, gave her a quick hug, and followed his sister and Martha at a more sedate pace.

As the three young moons disappeared into the crowd, Akiko felt herself being enveloped in a giant bear hug from behind. "You didn't think I'd forgotten about you?" came Winston's teasing voice as he hugged her tightly.

"Heavens no," she returned good-humoredly, laughing as she turned around and gave him a proper hug, which he gladly returned. "I'm surprised you were able to contain yourself that long, though."

"I've been practicing." He winked a sparkling green eye impishly as he smiled down at her. "Besides, those three are just so entertaining, aren't they?"

"Oh, you." Akiko gave him a playful swat on the arm. "You're incorrigible, you know that? Poor Martha's suffering so, and all you do is giggle to yourself like a child."

"Hey!" he returned defensively. "I didn't _make_her come, you know. She enjoys hanging out with Jiji and Ari, even if she might not say so."

"I know," Akiko smiled, reaching up to scratch Lizzie under her chin. "And how are you doing today, Lizzie? Has Winston exploded on you again recently?"

"Hey! I'll have you know that nothing's exploded in the past two weeks that hasn't been supposed to. What is this, Pick On Londinium Day?" Winston retorted as the little cat started purring contentedly and rubbing her head against Sihnon's hand.

"It is," Akiko nodded. "I've got commemorative mugs and hats already made. I'm sure they'll be a smashing hit with the crowd." Winston threw back his head and laughed, and the sound made Akiko smile wider.

"So," he said when he had sufficiently composed himself, "where are we going today, 'Kiko? I assume you have something planned, given your behavior with Jainyu?"

"I do." She presented a brochure of her own to him with a dramatic flourish. "And may I just say, you look quite stunning today. I'm actually impressed. Did Martha lock you in the bathroom again until you were presentable?"

"Har-day-har-har," he retorted, taking the brochure. "No, she didn't. I _can_occasionally get dressed on my own, thank you very much. Why must you females always be so persnickety about dirt, anyway? It's not like it ever hurt anyone. And I feel like I'm gonna asphyxiate in this thing." Winston tugged uncomfortably at the tie around his neck, but Akiko slapped his hand away.

"Don't fiddle," she ordered him sternly, straightening his tie with practiced ease, as well as brushing the wrinkles out of his long-sleeved, cream colored shirt and burgundy vest. "And nonsense. You look very handsome." She stood up on tiptoe and brushed some of his shaggy blonde curls out of his eyes with a smile, giving one a playful tweak as she settled back on her feet. "Even if you desperately need a haircut."

"Oi, no more out of you today about my hair, clothes, grooming habits, or appearance in general, okay?" The large smile on his face offset his annoyed words. "You look nice, too, 'Kiko."

"_Fēi cháng g__ǎ__n xiè_," she replied, smoothing the skirt of the pale green satin dress she was wearing. "I'm so glad you approve." She winked. "But come on, look at the pamphlet already, Winnie. We don't have all afternoon." He complied, and as he read the advertisement printed in Mandarin on it, his face lit up like a supernova.

Akiko suddenly found herself swept into another huge hug, and her feet left the ground as Winston whirled her around in glee. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Akiko, do you know how huge this is, this is awesome, oh my gosh, I can't believe you're actually doing this!" he babbled, interspersing his words with delighted giggles. He set her down, still keeping a hand on her shoulder as she wobbled unsteadily for a moment, still somewhat dizzy from the spinning.

"Let's go! I don't wanna waste any time!" Winston was practically dancing with excitement.

"Down boy!" Akiko giggled, but she allowed Winston to drape his arm over her shoulders and pull her close as they started off, even going to far as to reach up and take hold of his hand as they walked down the crowded streets of the city. "I knew you'd like it," she smirked up at him.

"Are you kidding?" he gushed, waving an arm to accentuate his words. "This is _huge_! Colossal! Enormous! Gargantuan! Humong-!"

"I get the picture, Winnie," she interrupted with a short laugh.

"Point is," Winston continued as if he hadn't heard her, "it's the _Prosecutor_, Akiko! The first ship created after the Exodus from Earth-That-Was! And it's on display _here_! I never thought your scientists would let it out of whatever vault they had it locked up in, but I'll finally, _finally_get to see it!" He gave a little skip of pure joy, looking for all the worlds like a kid let loose in a giant candy store.

"Just don't blow it up, okay, Winnie?" Akiko teased him. "I don't know how I'd explain to my bosses how in the worlds my brother blew up a priceless historical artifact just by walking by it."

Winston placed a hand over his heart. "On his solemn word of honor, Winston Montgomery will not explode, detonate, implode, rupture, shatter, blow up, or otherwise obliterate a solitary thing today. Besides," he stroked Lizzie's head absently, "I don't hold with playing around with antiquated relics. The pocket watch Arthur gave me is still in prime condition, isn't it?" He patted his pocket where the ancient timepiece always resided. Akiko had to agree on that point.

"Be that as it may, seriously, _don't touch anything. _"

"You worry too much, 'Kiko," Winston returned breezily. "Everything'll be fine. We'll have a great time, go to the hotel tired but happy, and then you'll throw your hairbrush at me again in the morning because I tried to make breakfast and accidentally set the eggs on fire. The only thing that would make this better is if Jules and the others were here with us." He sighed, half contentedly, half longingly.

"First of all, I was tired, that was a shameful waste of good eggs, and the manager nearly threw us out because of the smoke. You ducked in time anyway, so I don't know what you're complaining about. Second, you know why Julius and the others can't be here today. He's going over military affairs with Joanna on Ariel about the war, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," Winston's face fell slightly. "I offered to go with Jules, you know, but he and Jo both said to go have fun with you. Said they could handle it on their own. As if anyone could get along without me." He winked at her to show he was kidding, but Akiko could catch the slight bit of melancholy in his tone easily.

"Well, they're right. And I'm glad you could come. It's no fun having a huge event like this if you can't show it off to someone." She grinned cheekily at him and he grinned back, his good mood restored. "I mean, Cherie and Reginald both have important government functions today, Guozhi's having a festival on his planet, and Xavier… well, he's kind of not talking to you after, um…"

"I blew his ship up, yeah, I remember," Winston finished with a sheepish grimace. "How was I to know the last time his neurocatalytic fuel cell had gotten properly repaired was a half-century ago? I was only trying to help boost his energy output so he got more oomph out of his engine. And no one was hurt!"

"And that's a small miracle in and of itself. But as much as I like Xavier for the most part, if it came down to inviting either him or you to this, I know who I'd choose." Akiko gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.

"I wish Jules could be here at least, though," Winston continued, after squeezing her hand in return and planting a quick, brotherly kiss on the top of her head. "He'd have fun. Or he would after we got him to loosen up a little. We should do something later, just the three of us. He's just so tense these days."

"It's the war," Akiko said sadly. "Why can't the outer planets just see that he's only trying to help them? Why must they do this to everyone?"

"Because they're weird, wasteful, wanton warmongers."

"Winston!"

"What?" he looked down at her, and she was surprised and distressed to see real anger smoldering deep in his eyes, though it was gone in an instant, replaced by shame.

"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "That was uncharitable of me. I know they're only doing what they think is right, and I can respect that. But did they have to shoot Julius? Point blank to boot?" Ah. So that was what was bothering him, even after a year and a half. She didn't exactly blame him, though. The incident had been a traumatic experience for all of them.

"Let's not talk of the war right now," Akiko said firmly, seeing that it was putting a damper on what should have been a carefree day. "Tell me about some of the things you're working on right now."

Winston needed no more encouragement. He immediately launched into an enthusiastic and detailed explanation of his latest project, most of which went right over Akiko's head. She didn't mind, though. She liked hearing him talk. It was refreshing, really, the way he just said whatever was on his mind, how he was so earnest and honest with everyone, no matter who they might be. She could just always be herself around him, and not worry about saying the wrong thing or losing control of herself. He never took it personally, anyway.

She leaned closer into his side contentedly as they walked briskly down the bustling streets of Tojing, Winston still rhapsodizing effusively about some new computer design or some such. A group of teenage girls caught sight of the pair, and dissolved into giggles and/or dreamy smiles upon seeing them. Her only response was to smile slightly and squeeze Winston's hand a little tighter.

Akiko supposed they must look like an odd couple, she small, dainty, and looking like she just stepped out of a Companion House, and he abnormally tall and lanky, with those peculiar contrasting eyes, unruly pale hair, and overall behavior and appearance all but outright shouting "I am not from this planet!" But Akiko could have cared less what those girls, or anyone else might think. Winston was her brother, her best friend in the entire 'verse, and she loved him too much to get embarrassed over a little thing like people mistaking them for an actual couple or something. It wasn't the first time that had happened, either. It just went to show how close-minded some people could be, she supposed.

As the duo passed a stall selling fried calamari, Lizzie jumped off her customary perch on Winston's shoulder and bounded off through the crowd toward it, drawn by the tantalizing smell.

"Is it alright if she does that?" Akiko asked, just a tad worriedly. "She could get lost."

"Nah, it's fine," Winston assured her. "She always finds me again. Or I find her. We have that mystical, unexplained connection between man and animal. Or planet and animal, as the case may be." He winked down at her, and she giggled at his exaggeratedly solemn expression.

"Or you just have a tracking chip planted in her, and you have the locator on you."

"That too." He nodded sagely. "Can't hurt to be doubly prepared. You remember that time she got lost in New Paris for a whole week? I thought I'd never find her that time."

"She just has the heart of an adventurer, like someone else I know." Akiko nudged Winston playfully with her shoulder.

"Heh, that she does," Winston smiled fondly. "Oh!" He seemed to suddenly remember something. "Hey, 'Kiko, remember that…?" Akiko didn't hear the rest of his sentence. She stopped in her tracks, one hand instinctively pressing against her stomach. What was going on? Why did she suddenly feel like she had just been punched in the gut?

"'Kiko?" Winston's worried voice cut through the sudden inexplicable pain from her midsection and made her look up at him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Akiko didn't answer. Her eyes were riveted to the small stream of red that had started to trickle from his nose.

"Akiko! C'mon, girl, you're starting to scare me; what's wrong?" He wiped his nose distractedly, then froze in shock upon seeing the smears of blood on his fingers.

The next thing Akiko knew, she was on her knees, her forehead touching the sidewalk as she doubled over. Her mind absently wondered what was going on, her dress was going to get dirty, get up, Akiko, get up, _get up_what do you think you're doing? Then the pain slammed into her with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and a scream was ripped from her throat before she even knew it had left. She was dimly aware of tears streaming down her cheeks and off her nose, smearing her makeup considerably, but she was past caring about that at the moment. It felt like someone was trying to cut her in half, trying to rip her apart, had stuck a sword inside her and was slicing her open.

Her arms were clutched tightly to her abdomen, where wet, sticky warmth seeped through her dress. Almost afraid to look, she carefully opened one eye to peek beneath her, and whimpered faintly when she saw the red soaking through the green fabric covering her belly, coating her arms and dripping onto the pavement.

The pain was so all encompassing that it almost blocked out every other thought she had, but one persistent one finally wormed its way through the blinding haze of agony clouding her mind: Where was Winston? That thought spurred her aching, trembling body into action. She lifted her head slightly, no mean feat since it suddenly seemed to weigh a few hundred pounds, and looked around her.

Her vision was bleary with tears and swam in and out of focus - _I'm going to pass out soon_she thought numbly – but she was able to see the motionless and silent form of her brother planet on the ground next to her. It looked like he had collapsed face first to the ground, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut. His glasses were crooked, but for some inexplicable reason had stayed on his face. His head was turned toward her, and his eyes were closed, his face peaceful, as if he were only sleeping. But the blood pooling under and around his head and streaming from his nose told a different story. There was another puddle of scarlet rapidly spreading under his chest.

With herculean effort, Akiko pushed herself up to rest on one forearm while keeping the other arm wrapped around her middle. Steadying herself for a moment, she then unwrapped her other arm from around her stomach and reached out a trembling hand to touch Winston's deathly pale cheek.

"W-Winnie?" she whispered hoarsely, hoping, praying that he would answer, that those absurd, beautiful eyes of his would open and he'd say it would all be alright, everything would go back to the way it was, that this was all a bad dream. He didn't answer, though. His skin was cold to the touch, and her hand left smears of blood on his cheek. For one awful, horrific second, she thought he was dead, but when she desperately fumbled for a pulse, he had one, though it was so faint and slow it was almost non-existent.

Relief made her even weaker than she already was. She slumped to the ground and curled up on her side, only half able to bite back another scream of pain as her midsection vehemently protested the movement. She took hold of Winston's unresponsive hand, interlaced her fingers with his, and pressed it feebly, even as blackness crept around the edges of her vision, more for her own comfort than anything else.

What had happened to her? To him? What was going on? Had there been a natural disaster? An accident of some kind? Was anyone else hurt? Hanabi, Jainyu, Martha, were they okay? Why was this happening?

Tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as these questions and others whirled around in her dazed mind like a dog chasing its own tail. The pain was unbearable, and felt like it was driving her insane. She wished she would just pass out already.

Suddenly, a worried meow reached her ears, and she laboriously opened her eyes to see Lizzie looking down at her with what she swore was a worried expression. The little cat meowed again, nuzzling Akiko's face once before turning her attention to Winston, pawing at his arm insistently, trying to get him to wake up.

That was the last thing Akiko saw before blackness claimed her vision and swept her away on a tide of merciful painlessness at last. Her grip on Winston's hand went limp and her breathing and heartbeat slowed to match his.

At select spots across Sihnon, the industrial cities of Dalyuan, Osan, Paiju, Gumwon, Nansuing, and Quanming were torn apart by a series of explosions.

On Londinium, Colombia burned. The Parliament building collapsed.

People bled. Cried. Screamed. Prayed. Died.

On a bustling side street on Sihnon, two planets lay side by side, dead to the worlds, clinging to each other even in the midst of turbulent oblivion. Blood - their people's blood - continued to pour from their wounds, mingling until they lay together in a pool of blended crimson.

* * *

><p><strong>Chinese Translations<strong>  
>Dìdi – little brother<br>Jiě jie – big sister  
>Yúchǔn – silly<br>Fēi cháng gǎn xiè – Thank you very much

This fic is part of the ever-expanding Hetalia/Firefly 'verse created by myself and PwnedByPineapple.

I will just say right now that this is… pretty much 95% head-canon right here. The vast majority of the Unification War is one huge blank, so there's a lot of leeway for fan-theories about exactly what happened during that time.  
>And don't worry; more parts to this fic shall be forthcoming. We can't just leave Sihnon and Londinium like this, now can we? There's also the Alliance to check up on, and the aftershocks of this incident, both on the Core planets and the war in general. America and China will probably show up at some point, too.<p>

**Disclaimers (hoo boy, we're gonna be awhile…)**  
>Winston Montgomery (Londinium), Akiko Sakai (Sihnon), Hanabi Haung (Xiaojie), Jainyu Pham (Arien), Martha Tyndale (Colchester), Joanna Barton (Ariel), Reginald Helou (Osiris), Cherie de Vries (Bernadette), Guozhi Vause (Liann Jiun), and Xavier Myers (Bellerophon) belong to me, X-I-L2048. Julius Chou (The Alliance) belongs to myself and PwnedByPineapple. Everything else belongs to Joss and Himaruya. Many thanks also goes to my captain, PwnedByPineapple, for motivating me.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Julius Chou was _this_ close to banging his head against a wall out of sheer frustration. But, since he wasn't in the mood for a concussion today, he settled for pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, trying to fight off the tension headache he could just feel creeping up on his temples. Why could no one agree on what to do about the border and rim planets?

They were a stubborn bunch, true, but he was confident that they would see reason eventually, if they saw they couldn't win. Julius wanted to stop this war as quickly as possible before even more people got hurt, but his leaders, especially those in the military, were aliment to keep trying to open peace talks with the opposing side. Around and around the argument went in his government, neither side coming to an agreement, with more and more soldiers losing their lives in the meantime. Julius was becoming increasingly frustrated with the whole situation.

A gentle touch to his arm made him look to his left where the personification of Ariel sat. "Would you like to take a break?" she asked quietly.

Julius looked from her to the stage down below the balcony where the nation and planet sat, where one of the generals was giving an incredibly boring and long-winded speech about peace and understanding and universal harmony and so on and so forth. And it didn't look like he would be wrapping up his oration any time soon.

"Gladly, but I think it'll be awhile," he answered finally, glancing back at Joanna. She gave a small smile.

"Not as long as you might think," she replied, pointing down to where her president and others of the cabinet sat, seeming as bored and antsy as Julius was feeling. "I will give it… hm, five minutes more, at the most." Sure enough, four minutes later, the president called for a break. Julius couldn't quite mask his sigh of relief, but Joanna would have caught it anyway, so he didn't mind as much as he would have if almost anyone else had witnessed his slight slip of decorum. She was a sharp one, she was. Speaking of which…

"Julius, is there… something wrong?" she asked, her large, liquid brown eyes radiating gentle concern.

"I'm fine," he replied automatically, giving her a tight smile. "I'm just a bit… distracted now, that's all. I've got a lot on my mind." She was plainly not convinced, but decided to not press the matter, for which he was grateful.

"I think I'll go stretch my legs for a bit," he remarked after a moment of silence. As he rose to his feet, Joanna mirrored his actions. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed, but gave her a small, but genuine smile this time.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes; you don't need to keep an eye on me. I'll be fine. Promise." She looked like she might argue the point, but nodded and sat back down.

Julius gave her a nod in return, slipped out of the booth they were sitting in, and started walking down the hall, glad to finally have the chance to be alone for a couple minutes. Joanna was one of the sweetest girls he'd ever met, and there was almost no one he'd rather have at his side in a fight, but goodness, could she hover like no one else when she got into 'protective mode' as some of the younger personifications called it. She was almost as bad as Akiko sometimes.

A small, wry smirk found its way onto his face. _No_ one was as bad as Sihnon's personification when it came to hovering. The smirk disappeared, and he sighed. He wished that she and Winston could be here today, if only to keep him company, but no. They deserved their day off, far from this war, far from the fighting.

_Far from you,_ that pesky, condescending voice whispered in the back of his mind. Wrenching his thoughts away from that track, Julius instead focused on the upcoming vote that would decide whether or not to focus more manpower and money into the war. So far, the fighting had escalated, yes, but it was mostly skirmishes and small battles here and there. Nothing very major, for which Julius was profoundly grateful. Still, it was becoming clear to everyone that the Independents would not go down without one hell of a fight, and it was becoming more expensive than some of his bosses had planned to continue it. Some of them were willing to reevaluate their positions, but others were still pushing for a forced annexation. It would all be decided toda-

"-lius? … Wa… Please… up! Julius!" Julius' eyes fluttered open (funny, he didn't remember closing them), and he winced at the bright glare of the lights overhead, his eyes shutting again for a moment before he forced them open again. Joanna was leaning over him, worry written all over her chocolate brown face. Faces. Face... Why couldn't his eyes focus? And wait… why in the 'verse was he on the floor? Joanna looked remarkably relieved when she saw him try to focus on her face.

"Oh, thank God," she murmured, placing a gentle hand on his forehead. Louder, she said, "Julius, what happened? Are you alright?"

"Erg," was his eloquent response. He was becoming increasingly aware of a sharp pounding in his skull, and acute ache in his chest. What was going on? Why was he on the floor? And _why couldn't he fo-_His eyes suddenly widened, despite the harsh bright light, and with great effort he forced out, "Jo, 'm gonna…"

Understanding dawned in her eyes, and she turned him so that he was on his side, just as he vomited the contents of his stomach all over the carpeted floor. Julius was dimly aware of Joanna soothingly rubbing his back and speaking softly to him, but it was pretty much drowned out by the horrible ache in his head and his stomach forcibly rebelling against him. Everything was doing that lately, it seemed.

When nothing else would come up, the Alliance just lay there for a moment, panting, trying to catch his breath. He felt weaker than he had since Shadow had shot him, perhaps ever. It was not a pleasant feeling, to say the least. God, his head _killed_. What had happened? He was dimly aware of something warm and wet trickling down the left side of his face, and he weakly reached up and wiped it away, freezing when he saw red covering his fingers. A chill ran down his spine.

"Don't touch it, Julius," Joanna ordered, shifting to his other side so she could see him better. "It looks like someone attacked you. What do you remember?"

"Wha' happened?" he slurred, and then stopped in consternation as he heard how garbled his words were. What was _wrong_ with him?

"_I_don't know. I was hoping you could tell me." Apparently satisfied that he wasn't going to start puking again, Joanna eased a hand underneath her nation's head and gently turned him so he was lying flat on his back again. "When you didn't come back when you said you would, I went looking for you. I found you just lying here, like this. It looked like someone clubbed you on the head. You almost certainly have a concussion."

_I hate irony,_ Julius thought as his dazed mind tried to process the situation. It was more difficult than it should have been. Why in the seven Hells wouldn't the room stop _spinning_? It was making him ill again, and he closed his eyes to ward off the nausea.

A sudden sharp, stabbing pain in his chest made him gasp and lurch halfway upright, his hands instinctively going to his heart. He couldn't suppress a soft moan as the pain didn't lessen. If anything, it grew stronger. And moving didn't do anything for his splitting headache either.

"Don't move, Julius, you'll only make it worse!" Julius knew better than to argue with that tone of voice, and he meekly let the female planet carefully push him back down again and undo his shirt. He moaned again as the fabric moved over his chest as Joanna pushed it aside, tears pricking his eyelids. It just hurt _so much_. Why was this happening? What was going on? Why did it hurt this badly? A soft gasp made him crack open one eye.

"What is it?" he asked softly, glancing down at his chest, half afraid of what he might see. The skin in about a four inch diameter over his heart was blackened and bloody, as if someone had been hacking at it with reckless abandon with a red-hot knife and A wide, vertical gash had drawn itself over his breastbone. Both wounds were profusely leaking blood and the horrible ache in his heart told Julius that the damage went deeper than what he could see on the surface.

And then he knew. Suddenly, Julius knew. Something had happened to Londinium and Sihnon. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew, knew it with every fiber of his being. Terror shot through his heart, along with another jolt of pain, and he knew this fear wasn't for him. _Winston. Akiko._ No. No, this couldn't be happening!

With great effort, Julius reached up and gripped Ariel's shoulder, squeezing it hard to try to keep himself awake, trying to fight the blackness encroaching on the edges of his vision. She winced, but endured the pain stoically, knowing he didn't mean to hurt her, he was just panicked and suffering, trying to keep from going under again. She reached up and took his hand in hers, biting her lip slightly at the blood that was smeared all over it and her shirt, and he pressed it tightly.

"'Kiko…" he ground out between clenched teeth, his other hand gripping the carpet so hard it was actually starting to rip. "Winston… They're hurt. They're-" he broke off with a short, sharp, gasp of agony before he was able to continue. The blood dripping steadily from his temple became a stream, rather than a trickle. "Help them… p-please, Joanna." The uncharacteristic desperation in Julius' voice convinced her more than anything that something was _wrong_, terribly wrong, and she nodded solemnly, tenderly brushing some of the nation's golden hair off of his sweaty forehead.

"I promise," she replied. And with that, Julius finally fell unconscious, unable to resist any longer. As the grip on her hand went slack, Joanna gently laid Julius' arm down next to his still form and took out her holophone. It was time to make a few calls.

Lizzie continued her fruitless efforts to try to awaken Friend for another couple minutes. Her little mind couldn't quite understand what all was happening, but Friend wasn't supposed to be this way, he wasn't supposed to be lying so still and cold. His warm redlife all spilled over the ground smelled wrong, bad, _wrong_, it wasn't right! She stopped pawing and bumping at Friend's arm and started to nuzzle his shoulder, mewling piteously. Friend needed Others to come stop the redlife from flowing out of him, where were Others?

Friend's adopted litter mate, She-who-is-neat, was hurting, too. The thick, hot redlife gushing from her belly, through her green fake skin, was almost as disconcerting as Friend's. Lizzie padded over to her and licked salty water from her cheek, trying to be comforting. They both needed help fast, she could sense it. But who?

The golden, stately image of He-who-leads immediately came to mind. He was also their adopted litter mate, he loved them, surely he would help! Lizzie then mewed sadly as she remembered that He-who-leads wasn't Here. There was no way to tell him Friend and She-who-is-neat were hurting, even if He-who-leads would gladly help if he knew. Who else might help them, then?

Wait… Sister-who-dances! Brother-who-dreams! She-who-builds! They were Here, they would help, they would know what to do! Yes, yes, that was the answer!

The tiny cat bounded back to Friend's side, nuzzled his cheek in farewell, and then dashed off through the crowd of Humans. Now that she knew what to do, nothing could stop her. She would find the three younger Others if it was the last thing she did!

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong>

**I know it's short, I'm sorry! The next bit will be longer, promise. I just thought this would be a good place to stop.**

**Next time: we see what the moons have been up to, and America and China show up.**


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